Abstract
Purpose :
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, mobile technology has become an increasingly important modality of communication; however, disparities in access exist, with a disproportionate impact on older, visually impaired (VI) individuals. In response, Tech Pals was created by the Lighthouse Guild International (LGI), a non-profit in New York, NY, as a mentoring program to improve technology accessibility and literacy in older VI individuals. Through Tech Pals, VI teens instruct VI adults in using various technologies and accessibility features of Android and iOS platforms. Originally offered at the LGI headquarters in Manhattan, this program was expanded in an experimental pilot study to Montefiore Medical Center to reach VI patients in the Bronx, NY who cannot access in-person services at LGI. We evaluated the program’s impact on their ability to use these technologies.
Methods :
Through a Montefiore-LGI partnership, we held a pilot Tech Pals program in the Department of Ophthalmology. Mentees were identified in our EMR (Epic) based on their vision level, and they were recruited for individualized training sessions with a mentor on the day of a clinic appointment. Participants completed surveys evaluating their technology competency using a six-point Likert scale at the time of recruitment, immediately after their training, and 2 weeks after their training session. They also completed an experience survey.
Results :
From July 11 to August 15, 2023, 15 VI adults (mean age = 68 years) participated in Tech Pals. Help with texting and voice-over functions were the most common requests for training. A Friedman Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance on Ranks found that the median self-reported overall skill level with their technology was 3.0 before, 3.5 immediately after, and 4.0 at 2 weeks following Tech Pals (χ2=9.2, P=0.01). Post hoc analysis found that the median score immediately after Tech Pals was significantly higher than at baseline ( P<0.05). All participants rated their satisfaction with the program at 5.
Conclusions :
This Montefiore-LGI collaboration enabled the delivery of technology literacy and accessibility training to a new cohort of individuals with visual impairment. Mentees expressed high satisfaction with this intergenerational initiative. Future work is needed to evaluate skill retention, scale the program to reach more individuals, and ensure long-term sustainability.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.